International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-)

Description:International Affairs is Britain's leading journal of international
relations. Founded by and edited at the Royal Institute of International Affairs
in London, it has not only developed a much valued insight into European policy
debates but has also become renowned for its coverage of global policy issues.
It provides a stimulating and international mix of authors and draws on the
best of both English-language and foreign-language debates. Articles, all fully
refereed, are commissioned from a wide range of authoritative and interesting
writers who have something new and original to say about topics that matter.
In addition, International Affairs has an extensive book reviews
section, containing up to 100 reviews each quarter, written by experts in the
field.

JSTOR provides a digital archive of the print version of International
Affairs. The electronic version of International Affairs
is available at http://www.interscience.wiley.com.
Authorized users may be able to access the full text articles at this site.

The "moving wall" represents the time period between the last issue
available in JSTOR and the most recently published issue of a journal.
Moving walls are generally represented in years. In rare instances, a
publisher has elected to have a "zero" moving wall, so their current
issues are available in JSTOR shortly after publication.
Note: In calculating the moving wall, the current year is not counted.
For example, if the current year is 2008 and a journal has a 5 year
moving wall, articles from the year 2002 are available.

Terms Related to the Moving Wall

Fixed walls: Journals with no new volumes being added to the archive.

Absorbed: Journals that are combined with another title.

Complete: Journals that are no longer published or that have been
combined with another title.

Abstract

In 1949 the Swiss government convened a diplomatic conference to update international humanitarian law in the light of the tragic experiences of the Second World War. Although the proceedings were largely dominated by the fear that the coup in Prague, the blockade of Berlin and the Chinese civil war would lead to a third world war, the conference succeeded in adopting the four Geneva Conventions that are still in force today. This was a major breakthrough from a humanitarian point of view as well as a significant political success. However, in the 50 years that followed, the new Conventions were applied to circumstances that differed widely from those that their framers had in mind. Since the threat of nuclear annihilation prevented any direct and open confrontation between the superpowers, their rivalry led instead to a proliferation of internal conflicts along the fault-lines of the Cold War. What then was the significance of the new Geneva Conventions? What are the prospects for the future of international humanitarian law? These are some of the questions that deserve our attention as the twentieth century-scarred as it was by so many wars-gives way to the twenty-first.